Rod cropping apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 17, 1966 M. MORGAN ROD CROPPING APPARATUS Filed April 1e, 1964 May 17, 1966 M. MORGAN 3,251,212

ROD CROPPING APPARATUS Filed April 16, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 msg/U Myles morqn United States Patent O 3,251,212 ROD CROPPING APPARATUS Myles Morgan, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Morgan Construction Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Apr. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 360,355 6 Claims.' (Cl. 72-203) This invention relates to rolling mills and more particularly to an apparatus for trimming and removing the oit-gauge end portions of a moving rod.

At present, the off-gauge front and back ends of finished rod are manually trimmed and removed from a rod coil following termination of the coiling operation. After the coil has been taken from the coiling apparatus, operating personnel separate one or two of the upper strands from the coil and by a process of gauging and cutting, eventually remove a test sample of acceptable rod and the entire olf gauge back end portion. The coil must then be upended in order to permit removal in a similar manner of the `off-gauge front end portion.

However, in modern mill installations where the weight of coils being produced may run as high as 2,000 lbs. this procedure necessarily involves considerable difficulties, particularly when attempting to gain access to the bottom of the coil where the oli-gauge front end portion is located. Moreover, the present practice requires the constant attention of several operating personnel and is therefore a source of considerable cost to the mill owner.

These difhculties have now been -obviated in a novel manner by the present apparatus which includes a means of trimming or cropping front and back end portions of the rod at a point between the final finishing stand and the coiling apparatus. By so doing, the need to subsequently upend the coil in order to gain access to the front end portion is eliminated. Furthermore, the applicants apparatus may be coordinated and automatically controlled in connection with the overall operation of the mill in order to completely avoid the necessity of constant attention by operating personnel.

It should also be noted that at this point in the rolling operation, depending on the design of the mill, the finished `rod may be travelling at speeds in excess of 7,000 feet per minute. In operations of this type, it becomes imperative to remove the trimmed portions in a quick and efficient manner in order to avoid cobbling. To this end, the applicants apparatus further embodies means for expeditiously dealing with the off-gauge trimmed portions.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus for trimming and removing the off-gauge front and back ends of rod being produced in a rolling mill.

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for trimming the front and back ends of a moving rod prior tothe coiling operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a means of avoiding the necessary to upend the rod coils in order to manually trim the off-gauge front end portions of the rod.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide improved means for dealing with the trimmed olfgauge rod portions in order to avoid impairing the smooth flow of acceptable rod from the finishing stands to the coiling apparatus.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan View of an apparatus according to the present invention positioned between the final finishing stand and the coiling apparatus of a two strand mill;

ice

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the front end cropping apparatus and;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the back end cropping apparatus.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein are best illustrated the general features of the invention, it can be seen that `the combined front and back end cropping apparatus indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 is loca-ted on the mill floor 12 at a position between the tinal finishing stand 14 and the rod coiling apparatus 16 of each mill strand. Although this discussion will relate to a two strand mill, it is to be understood that the apparatus may be utilized in mills having any number of strands.

Water boxes indicated typically by the reference numerals 17, 18 and 19 are positioned on either side of the rod cropping apparatus 10 as indicated in order to cool the lrod from the high temperatures developed during rolling. For purposes of discussion, rod cropping apparatus 10 will hereinafter be subdivided into the following four basic units: a front end shearing apparatus 20; a front endcrop disposal mechanism 22; a back end shearing apparatus 24; and a back end crop disposal mechanism 26.

A more detailed description of the aforementioned subunits will now proceed with additional reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIG, 3, a high speed shear 28 of the type shown and described in the patent to Morgan No. 2,881,835 is shown mounted on a raised platform 30 immediately following water spray box 17. The shear 28 as illustrtaed in the aforementioned patent has been modified slightly to accommodate the present application. For example, the entrance apparatus generally indicated by the reference numeral 32 has been mounted on a separate pedestal 34 rather than being positioned on an integrally fabricated support extending in a forward direction from the base 36 of the shear. It should however be understood that the overall structure and operation of the shear remains basically unchanged and is not of itself considered inventive in the present application. However, a brief description of the shear and its operative sequence will be presented at this time in order to provide a clearer understanding of its use in the present combination.

Shear 28 is basically comprised of a base portion 36 having front and rear upper faces 38 and 440 sloping in opposite directions at angles of approximately 45. The rear face 40 provides a supporting surface for rotatable disc shears 42 with `the front face 3S in turn supporting a pneumatic linear actuator 44. As previously mentioned, the entrance apparatus generally indicated by the reference numeral 32 -is positioned on a separate pedestal 34 a small distance upstream from the shear. A pipe guide 46 extends from water box 17 into the entrance apparatus 32-where it is placed in uninterrupted communication with the pivotally and sldably mounted upstream end of switch pipe 48. The downstream end of switch pipe 48 is in turn pivotally connected to the extensible piston rod of the angularly disposed pneumatic cylinder 50 forming a part of the linear actuator 44.

Shear 28 is further provided with an upwardly disposed receiver housing 52 supporting the upstream ends of pipe guides 54 and 56. Pipe guide- 54 extends horizontally for a limited distance to terminate in the entrance apparatus 58 of the back end shearing apparatus 24, a more detailed description of which will hereinafter be provided. Lower pipe guide 56 slopes downwardly from receiver housing 52 to the front end crop disposal mechanism generally indicated by the reference numeral 22.

The front end crop disposal mechanism 22 is cornprised basically of rotary drum shears 62 rotatably mounted within a separate housing structure 64 mounted on the downstream end of platform 30. A downwardly extending scrap chute 66 leads from the housing structure 64 through the mill floor to underlying scrap removal apparatus shown in FIGS. l and 2 in the form of an oscillating conveyor 68. Conveyor 68 leads from the lower extremity of scrap chute 66 to a remotely positioned scrap bin 70. It should of course be understood that conveyor 68 may be replaced by other scrap collecting apparatus, as for example by placing a scrap box directly beneath the discharge end of scrap chute 66, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In operation, the front end shearing apparatus 20 and front end crop disposal mechanism 22 operate as follows: a continuous length of rod emerging from the finishing stands 14 passes through water spray box 17 and enters pipe guide 46. The rod thereafter passes through the entrance apparatus 58 and into switch pipe 48 which is in its lowered position as indicated by the solid lines in FIG. 3. When in this position, the downstream end of switch pipe 48 is below the operating range of rotatable disc shears 42 and in communication with the upstream end of lower pipe guide 56. Consequently, the off-gauge leading end of the oncoming rod portion willbe directed under shear blades 72 and through lower pipe guide 56 to a continuously rotatable drum shears 62 which operate to chop the off-gauge portion into short length scrap pieces. The scrap pieces then fall through scrap chute 66 onto the oscillating conveyor 68 where they are carried to a remotely positioned scrap bin 70.

As soon as the off-gauge front end portion has completed its passage through switch pipe 48, pneumatic linear actuator 44 is operated to extend the piston of angularly disposed pneumatic cylinder 50. This in turn causes switch pipe 48 to be both raised and advanced to position 48a as indicated by the dotted representation in FIG. 3. As discussed in U.S. Patent No. 2,881,835, this will cause the bight of the rod to move upwardly into contact with the rotating blades 72 of disc shears 42. The peripheral movement of the rotating blades is such as to grasp the rod and move it upwardly between them, thus severing it. The sheared leading end of the rod now resides above the blades and continues onward to enter the upstream end of upper pipe guide 54 extending into receiving housing 52. What remains of the front end off-gauge portion continues to pass through lower guide 56 to be operated on by drum shears 62 as previously discussed. It is therefore apparent that with the aforementioned arrangement, the off-gauge front end portion of the rod can be severed from the intermediate acceptable portion without jeopardizing the smooth continuous flow of rod towards the coiling apparatus 16. The operative sequence of pneumatic linear actuator 44, rotatable disc shears 42 and the scrap shears 62 can be coordinated and adjusted to suit current rolling conditions.

Having thus described the front end shearing apparatus 20 in conjunction with the front-end crop disposal mechanism 22, attention will nowv be focused on the construction and operative sequence of the rear end shearing .apparatus 24 and the rear end crop disposal mechanism 26. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the overall construction yof rear end shearing apparatus 24 closely parallels that of the front end shearing apparatus. The entrance apparatus 58 of the back end shearing apparatus 24 is mounted on the housing structure 64 of the front end cropped disposal mechanism 22. A second switch pipe '74 leads therefrom with its downstream end pivotally connected to a second pneumatic linear actuator 76.

Back end shearing apparatus 24 is basically a duplicate .of the front end shearing Vapparatus 20 and is provided with a base portion 78 having mounted thereon rotatable disc shears 80 and an upwardly disposed receiver housing 82. When in a downwardly disposed position as indicated by the solid lines in FIG. 4, switch pipe 74 extends beneath the operative range of disc shears 80 with its downstream end in communication with a hori- Zontally extending pipe guide 84 leading from receiver housing 82 to cooling boxes 18 and 19. Receiver housing 82 further supports an upper pipe guide 86 leading therefrom to extend downwardly to the back end crop disposal mechanism 26 again consisting of continuously rotatable scrap shears 88 mounted within a housing structure 90. A second scrap chute 92 extends downwardly from housing structure 90 through the mill floor to a second oscillating conveyor 94, in turn operating to carry the scrap pieces to scrap bin 96.

In operation, the oncoming acceptable portion of the rod emerges from the entrance apparatus 58 mounted on the front end crop disposal mechanism 20 to enter switch pipe 74. At this point, the switch pipe is in its lowered position, thereby causing the acceptable portion to pass under disc shears 80 and continue onward through pipe guide 84 towards the coiling apparatus. As the off-gauge rear end portion of the rod approaches entrance apparatus 58, pneumatic linear actuator 76 is operated to raise and advance switch pipe 74 to a position as indicated by the dotted lines at 74a, thereby causing the bight of the rod to pass through the operating range of the rotatable disc shears 80. The rod is again sheared, the acceptable portion continuing onward through pipe guide 84 while the sheared leading end of off-gauge back end portion is pulled upwardly into upper pipe guide 86. This of course causes the offgauge back end portion to be directed downwardly to the rotary drum shears 88 where it is cut into a plurality of short length scrap pieces and thereafter passed through scrap chute 92 to oscillating conveyor 94. Conveyor 94 operates to carry the scrap pieces to bin 96. Again it should be noted that the conveyor 94 can be eliminated in favor of some alternate arrangement as for example placing a -bin directly beneath the chute 92. In this manner, the back end portion is also removed from the acceptable intermediate portion of the rod without in any way interfering with the smooth forward motion of rod towards the coiling apparatus.

With this arrangement, it can therefore be seen that both the off-gauge front and back end portions of the'rod may be removed prior to the coiling operation. This of course obviates the necessity of upending the coil in order to gain access to the off-gauge front end portion. In addition, the applicants apparatus may be automatically controlled through the use of rod length detecting means, thereby avoiding the necessity of employing operating personnel to manually remove the off-gauge front and back end portions of the rod.

It is my intention to cover all changes and modifications of the invention herein chosen for purposes of disclosures which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a rolling mill, means for cropping the off-gauge front and back end portions from the acceptable intermediate section of a moving rod prior to the coiling operation comprising the combination of: a rst rod shearing means positioned downstream from the nal nishing stand for cropping the off-gauge front end portion from said acceptable intermediate rod section; a front end crop disposal means associated with said first rod shearing means for disposing of said cropped off-gauge front end portion; a second rod shearing means leading from said rst rod shearing means and in communication with downstream coiling apparatus, said second rod shearing means capable of cropping the off-gauge back end portion from said acceptable intermediate rod section; and a rear end crop disposal means associated with said second rod shearing means for disposing of said Cropped off-gauge back end portion.

2. In a rolling mill, rod cropping means positioned intermediate the nal finishing stand `and the coiling apparatus for cropping off-gauge front and back ends from the acceptable intermediate portion of a moving rod, said rod cropping means comprising a front end shearing apparatus in communication at its upstream .and downstream ends respectively'with said finishing stand and a back end shearing apparatus, said back end shearing apparatus in turn in communication at its downstream end with said coiling apparatus, said front end shearing apparatus op erative to crop the off-gauge front end from an oncoming rod while directing the remaining length of said rod downstream to said rear end shearing apparatus, front end crop disposal means associated with said front end shearing apparatus for disposing of said cropped off-gauge front end, said back end shearing apparatus operative to crop the off-gauge backend from said rod while directing the remaining acceptable intermediate portion of said rod to said coiling apparatus, and rear end crop disposal means associated with said rear end shearing apparatus for disposing of said olf-gauge back end.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said front end shearing apparatus is comprised of a iirst rod switch leading from said iinishing stand to a front end crop shear, a crop delivery passage leading from said front end cropshear to said front end crop disposal means, a rod delivery passage adjacent said cropdelivery passage and leading from said front end crop shear to said back end shearing apparatus, an means for adjusting said rst rod switch from a position in -communication with the upstream end of said crop delivery passage through the operating range of said front end Crop shear to a position in communication with the upstream end of said rod delivery passage in order to first permit the off-gauge front end of said moving rod to enter said crop delivery passage and thereafter, to pass said rod within the operating range of said front end crop shear in order to shear said rod and direct the sheared leading end of the next oncoming rod portion into said rod delivery passage.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim Z wherein said front and back end crop disposal means are comprised of crop pipes leading from said front and back end shearing apparatus tovscrap shears, said scrap shears operative to divide said olf-gauge front and back ends into a plurality of relatively short-length scrap pieces, and means for collecting said short-length scrap pieces for subsequent disposal.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said back end shearing apparatus is comprised of a second rod switch leading from the rod delivery passage of said front end shearing apparatus to a back end crop shear, a second rod delivery passage associated with said back end crop shear and leading downstream therefrom towards said ceiling apparatus, a second crop delivery passage adjacent said second rod delivery passage and leading from said back end crop shear to said back end crop disposal means, and means for adjusting said second -rod switch from a position in communication with the upstream end of said second rod delivery passage to a position in communication with the upstream end of said second crop delivery passage in order to first permit the leading end of the acceptable intermediate rod portion to enter said second rodV delivery passage and thereafter, to .pass said rod within the operating range of said back end crop shear in order to shear said rod and direct the cropped offgauge back end into said second crop delivery passage.

6. In a rolling mill, front and back end rod cropping means positioned intermediate the nal finishing stand and the coiling apparatus for cropping olf-gauge front and back ends from the acceptable intermediate portion of moving rod, said rod cropping means comprising: a front end shearing apparatus in communication at its upstream end with said finishing stand, said front end shearing apparatus comprising a iirst rod switch leading from said finishing stand to a front end crop shear, a lower crop delivery passage and an upper rod delivery passage leading from the `area of said front end crop shear, and means for adjusting said rst rod switch from a lowered withdrawn position in communication with the upstream end of said lower crop delivery passage through the operating range of said front end crop shear to an advanced raised position in communication with the upstream end of said upper rod delivery passage in order to first permit the offgauge front end of a moving rod coming from said finishing stands to enter said lower crop delivery passage and thereafter, to pass said rod within the operating range of said front end crop shear in order to shear said rod and divert the sheared leading end of the next oncoming rod portion into said upper rod delivery passage; a back end shearing apparatus comprising a second rod switch leading from the upper rod delivery passage of said front end shearing apparatus to a back end crop shear, a lower delivery passage associated with said back end crop shear and leading downstream therefrom to said coiling apparatus, an upper crop delivery passage overlying said lower rod delivery passage .and leading from said back end crop shear, and means for vertically adjusting said second rod switch from a lowered withdrawn position in communication with the upstream end of said lower rod delivery passage to an advanced raised position in communication with the upstream end of said upper crop delivery passage in order to rst permit the leading end of said acceptable intermediate rod portion to enter said lower rod delivery passage and thereafter, to pass said rod within the operating range of said back end crop shear in order to shear said rod and direct the cropped oi-gauge back end of said rod into said upper rod delivery passage; front and back end crop disposal means associated with said front and back end shearing apparatus respectively, said front end crop disposal means comprising a crop pipe leading from the lower delivery passage of said front end shearing apparatus to a iirst set of scrap shears, said rst set of scrap shears operative to divide said off-gauge cropped front end into a plurality of relatively short length scrap pieces, said second crop disposal means comprised of .a second crop pipe leading from the upper crop delivery pipe of said back end shearing apparatus to a second set of scrap shears, said second set of scrap shears operative to divide said o-gauge cropped back end into a plurality of relatively short length scrap pieces, and means for collecting said short length s-crap pieces `from said rst and second scrap shears for subsequent disposal. v

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 390,285 10/ 1888 Daniels 724-203 440,696 ll/l890 Daniels 72--203 1,370,063 2/1921 Sommer 72-203 1,507,872 9/ 1924 Van Orman 72-132 2,414,772 l/ 1947 Sheperdson 83-106 2,701,016 2/1955 Bedson 83-105 2,815,812 12/1957 Maximilian 83--106 2,852,075 9/1958 Wilson 83-331 2,861,634 11/1958 Wilson 72203 2,881,835 4/ 1959 Morgan 83-162 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

H. D. HOINKES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A ROLLING MILL, MEANS FOR CROPPING THE OFF-GUAGE FRONT AND BACK END PORTIONS FROM THE ACCEPTACLE INTERMEDIATE SECTION OF A MOVING ROD PRIOR TO THE COILING OPERATION COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF; A FIRST ROD SHEARING MEANS POSITIONED DOWNSTREAM FROM THE FINAL FINISHING STAND FOR CROPPING THE OFF-GUAGE FRONT END PORTION FROM SAID ACCEPTABLE INTERMEDIATE ROD SECTION; A FRONT END CROP DISPOSAL MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FIRST ROD SHEARING MEANS FOR DISPOSING OF SAID CROPPED OFF-GUAGE FRONT END PORTION; A SECOND ROD SHEARING MEANS LEADING FROM SAID FIRST ROD SHEARING MEANS AND IN COMMUNICATION WITH DOWN- 